Story of a Faithful Servant
by Turbofireyoshi
Summary: This story explains Bandana Waddle Dee's backstory, and how he came to work for King Dedede. His entire life from birth up until meeting Kirby is the main focus of the story.
1. A Hero is Born

The day began like any other day for the Waddle Dees of the forest. The sun rose as normal, while the grass glimmered with morning dew. Some Waddle Dees collected food to take back to their colonies, while others scooped up some clear drinking water into their buckets, from the nearby lake. They continued to work like this all day, until the sun set. Then, they each started back to their respective colonies for the night. But as they were heading back, two Waddle Dees heard a large crash, and quickly ran towards the noise to see what the commotion was. They searched the area for any possible sources, but their search was fruitless. Until, they heard a loud rustle in the tall grass. However, this scared both of them so much that they quickly scurried back towards their home.

As soon as they left, the true source of the noises poked his head out and looked around. He was a newborn Waddle Dee, whose complexion was slightly darker than that of the forest inhabitants. And he had light brown eyes that sparkled as he looked up at the full moon. He was all alone, and he was confused as to where he was and why. What he wasn't aware of, was that the reason he was alone was because his parents had abandoned him. Though extremely rare, some Waddle Dee parents may reject their offspring shortly after birth, and leave them in the middle of the forest, hoping that the other Waddle Dees may find them and take them in. Unfortunately, that wasn't the case for this newborn. Not only was this particular infant abandoned in a much harsher way, by being literally thrown into the bushes, but none of the Waddle Dees had a clue that the infant was there because he rarely ever cried, and his darker skin caused him to camoflauge with the bright colors of the forest.

Since his presence was completely ignored, the baby Waddle Dee had to teach himself how to do things. He'd observe the other Waddle Dees, and then mimic them. It wasn't easy, but soon the infant knew how to walk, eat, and drink. And since he didn't garner any attention where he was, he left the forest that he was presumably born in to wander around Dream Land, where he attracted much more attention due to his cuteness. Unfortunately, still nobody took him in. Since, again, Waddle Dees abandoning their young was extremely rare, all of the other Waddle Dees, Waddle Doos, and assorted creatures all assumed that his parents were close by.

But, the interactions between the other creatures in Dream Land were beneficial to the little one nonetheless, since such interactions allowed him to learn how to talk.

Despite being alone, the infant was content for the most part. Though deep down, he always felt like there was something missing. When the Waddle Dee grew older, he soon realized what that missing thing was... He was the only child in Dream Land without a family. But, since being alone was all he knew, he brought himself to accept that having no family was normal for him. However, he still yearned for the love a parent could bring. Still, he didn't dwell on this too much. He continued life as a wanderer, and would travel to new places day after day. And one day, his travels lead him somewhere very interesting...


	2. The Dream

The little Waddle Dee found a mysterious looking mountain, with what appeared to be a castle perched on top. "What's that?" He inquired. Curiously, he ran towards the mountain, and that's when he saw something that left him in awe. There were more Waddle Dees, just like him, but they were carrying spears, and performing all sorts of impressive moves with them. "Cool!" He shouted... So loud that it scared the other Waddle Dees, who toppled over onto each other. One of them noticed the child, and walked towards him. "Hey, kid! What are you doin' yelling like that!? Can't ya see we're busy?" The older Waddle Dee huffed. "Oh... Sorry, sir..." The little one apologized. Then, a question popped into his mind; "...Busy doing what?" "We're busy training!" The older one replied. "Training? What are you training for?" The child asked. "You see kid, we're in King Dedede's Waddle Dee army! And we're training so we can be ready to fight off any monsters that might try to attack the king!" The older Waddle Dee explained. The little one tilted his head curiously. "Who's King Dedede?" he asked. All of the other Waddle Dees gasped. "You DON'T know who King Dedede is!?" They all exclaimed in unison. "No..." The little one replied. "Who is he?" "Only THE greatest thing to happen to Dream Land!" A Waddle Dee with bright blue eyes piped up, and she ran over to the child and handed him a poster with King Dedede's picture on it.

"That's him?" The child asked, staring at the poster, completely mesmerized. "That's him!" The blue eyed Waddle Dee replied. "Wow... He's SO cool!" The little Waddle Dee beamed. "VERY cool!" The blue eyed Waddle Dee replied. The little one was still looking at the poster. But suddenly, he looked at the others with wide eyes. "Someday, when I'm bigger, I wanna be part of King Dedede's army too!" He exclaimed. "He's just so COOL!" "Yeah, yeah, he's cool. Now can we get back to training!?" The other Waddle Dee from before grumbled, stamping his foot impatiently. "All right, All right!" The blue eyed Dee said, rolling her eyes at the older Dee. Then she patted the little one on the head. "You can keep that poster. It'll remind you of your dream. And feel free to come and visit anytime!" She smiled. And with that, she and the other Waddle Dee returned to their group, and they resumed their training.

The little one waved, and then he slowly tiptoed away so as not to scare the others again.

That night, the little Waddle Dee just couldn't stop admiring the poster. He stared it until he fell asleep. And all night, he had dreams about working for King Dedede and battling fearlessly in his army. The prospect of working for a cool looking king, and learning to battle like the other Waddle Dees was something that the little one just couldn't get off of his mind now, no matter how hard he tried.

The next morning, the little Waddle Dee headed for his favorite part of Dream Land, a huge field of flowers filled with beautiful butterflies of many different colors. He had fun chasing the butterflies, pretending that they were monsters that he had to chase away from King Dedede's Castle. "Leave King Dedede alone, you big monsters!" He giggled. He continued to chase the "monsters," for a while, but he wasn't looking where he was going. And he accidentally bumped into someone...


	3. False Friends

"Oof!" The little Dee said after he bumped into the stranger, who was an orange Waddle Dee with bright red eyes. Following him were two other orange Waddle Dees, with pink and green eyes respectively. The little Waddle Dee was laying on the ground, and he looked up at the older Waddle Dee, who was rubbing his arm, which hurt a bit after the little one had inadvertently rammed into it. "I'm SO sorry!!! I didn't mean to bump you! It was an accident!" The little Waddle Dee apologized, feeling extremely guilty for hurting the other Dee. "Hey, no biggie, kid. It didn't hurt THAT much." The other Waddle Dee replied, helping the little one up. "The name's Fregula, by the way. The one with the pink eyes is Amelia. And that guy's Fortissimo." He added, introducing himself and the others to the little one. "H-Hello..." The little Waddle Dee said shyly. "So, what's your name? Go on! tell us!" Amelia insisted. "I... I don't have a name..." The little one replied, looking down at the ground, sadly."No name!?" The three Waddle Dees gasped. Then they started laughing. "Poor little no name! What, did your parents forget to name you?" Fregula cackled. That remark made the little Dee tear up a bit, but he regained composure and attempted to calmly explain things to the others; "I... I don't have any-" "Forget it. We'll just call you runt." Fregula said, cutting the little one off. "So, runt... What are you doing here in the butterfly fields?" He asked. "Umm... Well... I'm chasing butterflies!" The little Waddle Dee explained. "Or... I WAS... Guess I scared them all away." "Hmm... Well, seeing as you've got nothing to do now, ya wanna come berry picking with us?" Fregula asked.

The little one wasn't sure how to respond. These Waddle Dees had just made fun of him for having no name, and now they wanted to be his friend? The little Dee's intuitions were telling him not to go with these three. But at the same time, berry picking DID sound fun. And he'd never really had friends before, since he spent most of his life on his own. "Well... Okay!" the little one agreed. "Well, what are we waiting for? Let's go!" Fregula exclaimed, and the four Waddle Dees headed into the forest to pick some berries. The little one had fun picking berries with the others. What he didn't realise though, was that they didn't invite him to go along for fun. They simply wanted to exploit him for his small size. However, the little Dee didn't catch on to this, even when Fregula kept telling him to crawl into small spaces to get to the good berries. Soon, they had collected quite a few berries, so the four Waddle Dees set up a picnic to enjoy their berries. Suddenly, Fortissimo stood up. "What is it, Fortissimo?" Amelia asked. "Oh, well, it's just... All this silence is pretty durn awkward! We should talk about something!" Fortissimo replied. "I know! Let's talk about our biggest dreams for the future!" Amelia suggested.

Immediately, Fregula spoke. "Someday, I wanna be a world famous culinary artist!" "Hmm?" The little one asked, not knowing what those big words meant. "He said he wants to be a chef." Amelia clarified. "Oh! That sounds like fun!" The little Waddle Dee exclaimed. "I want to be a pilot! And fly people to all different destinations on Popstar!" Amelia said. "That sounds like fun too!" The little Dee replied. "And I want to be a singer-songwriter!" Fortissimo said enthusiastically. Then he began to sing; "OOOOOOOOOH DREAM LAND! THE PLACE WHERE DREAMS COME... TRUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUEEEEEEEE!" His singing voice was so horrible, that the other three covered their ears. "Uhh... Fun!" The little one said, while poking at his ears to get them to stop ringing. "What about you, runt? What's your biggest dream?" Fregula asked the little one. Without hesitation, the little Waddle Dee piped up and said; "I wanna be a super strong soldier in King Dedede's Waddle Dee army!" All of a sudden, the three older Waddle Dees began to laugh again. "You? A SOLDIER?! Ha! You're such a puny little wimp, King Dedede wouldn't even consider you as a JANITOR, let alone a SOLDIER!!!" Fregula remarked, and he began to laugh hysterically. "Puny little wimp! Puny little wimp!" Amelia and Fortissimo repeated in a singsongy voice.

All of this teasing upset the little one to the point of tears. And he ran away from those bullies, and returned to the butterfly fields to cry. What with the butterfly fluttering around though, it was hard for the little Waddle Dee to stay upset for too long, and he soon forgot his troubles and began to chase butterflies again. Until... "AAAAAAAAAAAAAGH!!! HELP ME! HEEEEEEEEELLLLLLP!" Someone screamed at the top of their lungs. The little one didn't recognise their voice at all. But he knew that whoever it was, they needed help. So, he followed the suspicious yells for help. And to his surprise, the sounds lead him all the way back the castle on the mountain where King Dedede and his Waddle Dee army resided. That's when he saw something shocking...

(Authors note: The three Waddle Dees in this chapter originally were meant to be unnamed one off characters, but I figured it'd get annoying having to keep specifying which one was which, so I named them for convenience purposes. Yay, convenience! XD)


	4. The First Battle

Someone was being cornered at the bottom of the mountain by a huge, flaming lion! And he looked... Familiar. "Is that... No... It couldn't be, could it?" The little Waddle Dee asked himself. He could've sworn he'd seen that face somewhere before. He decided to get a little closer to get a better look. Sure enough, the one in trouble was exactly who the little Waddle Dee believed it to be. "King Dedede!" He shouted. "What do I do!?" He panicked. He looked around nervously, hoping one of the king's servants was nearby. Alas, it was just him, Dedede, and the lion. So, he tried something else. "H-Help... HELP!!! KING DEDEDE IS BEING ATTACKED BY A BIG SCARY MONSTER!!! HEEEEELLLLLLPPP!!!" The little one called out desperately. But nobody heard him. At this point, the little Dee figured there was only one more option. He quickly ran to the king's aide and stood between him and the lion protectively. "You leave the king alone, you big meanie!" He demanded. The lion roared. The little Waddle Dee saw this as an opportunity to attack, so he bravely charged towards the lion. Unfortunately, the lion had the upper hand, and was able to knock the little one unconscious with one breath of fire. Fortunately for the king, two Waddle Dees and an bright orange Waddle Doo heard the commotion, and rushed to the king's side immediately. "Your majesty! Are you okay?" The Waddle Doo asked. "Uhh... You might wanna ask that question to that little guy down there, Captain Waddle Doo." King Dedede replied, pointing to the unconscious Waddle Dee. "He must've thought that the royal pet Fire Lion was tryin' to attack me or something! Ridiculous right?!" He began to laugh.

Suddenly, the little Waddle Dee regained consciousness. "Royal... Pet?" He asked, feeling a bit confused. "That's what I said!" King Dedede replied. "And he wasn't attacking me!" "Then... Why did you call for help?" The little Waddle Dee inquired. "I called for help because I needed my servants to bring him his food, so he'd quit being mad at me for forgetting to feed him! He only acts up when he's hungry. But once he's got food in him, he's just a harmless kitten!" King Dedede explained. He commanded his two Waddle Dee servants to feed the Fire Lion some meat, and almost immediately, the lion calmed down and began to eat his food while purring happily. "See? Completely harmless!" King Dedede repeated. "Oh... But then... Why did he attack ME?" The little Waddle Dee questioned. "He didn't recognise you. Therefore, he saw you as a threat to the king. That's the only reason he attacked." Captain Waddle Doo replied. "Oh..." The little Waddle Dee mumbled. He felt a bit embarrassed that he'd gotten involved in a situation where the King wasn't in any real danger. "Well... Since everybody's safe, I think I'll go now." The little one said, and he tried to get up. However, he was severely injured by his run in with the royal pet, and couldn't even manage to stand up without falling. Captain Waddle Doo approached the little one. "This Waddle Dee appears to be badly injured... Perhaps he should stay at the castle for the night to heal, your majesty." He suggested. "Hmm..." King Dedede pondered, looking at the injured little one. "That ain't a bad idea... Let's get him back to castle." The king agreed. "Once we're back there, you two can prepare him a bowl of Maxim Tomato soup." He added, making eye contact with his Waddle Dee servants. "Yes sir!" The two Dees saluted.

The group headed up the mountain's windy path to the castle. When they got there, the two Waddle Dee servants ran straight to the kitchen. And Captain Waddle Doo went to supervise them, since they were known to make quite a mess in the kitchen. And King Dedede took the little Waddle Dee into his bedroom and placed him on the bed so he could get some rest. Then, He too went to the kitchen to make sure those two Waddle Dees were preparing the right meal, since they were also very forgetful. As the little Waddle Dee lay in bed, he looked around the room, admiring the decorations. "This is the coolest looking castle I've ever seen!" The little Waddle Dee thought to himself. "It sure is nice of King Dedede to let me stay here." Just then, the Waddle Dee servants came in with a nice, hot bowl of Maxim Tomato soup for the little one. "Here's your soup, sir!" The two Waddle Dees said in unison. "Wow! It looks great!" The little Waddle Dee replied, looking at the tasty bowl of soup in awe. He took a big spoonful of the soup and gulped it down. Maxim Tomatoes are known for their healing power, so even after one bite, the little Dee was already feeling a lot better. And that soup was one of the greatest things he ever tasted, so he gulped the rest down pretty quick. After he finished with his soup, the Waddle Dee servants headed back to the kitchen with the little one's empty bowl. "Thanks, guys! That was delicious!" The little one said, waving to the servants as they left the room.

The little Waddle Dee then let out a big yawn. He was exhausted from his long day of butterfly chasing, berry picking, and unnecessary king defending. And right then and there, he fell asleep. A little while later, King Dedede came into the room, escorted by Captain Waddle Doo. The king was also ready to turn in for the night. But, he had completely forgotten that the little Waddle Dee was there, so when he saw him asleep in his bed, he was pretty surprised. "What the-" King Dedede shouted. "Would you like me to wake him, sire?" Captain Waddle Doo asked. King Dedede thought about it for a moment. "Nah, whatever. He's had a rough day. Let him sleep. I'll just sleep in the throne room or somethin'." The king replied. "That's awfully kind of you, your majesty." Captain Waddle Doo commented, a bit surprised that the king didn't seem reluctant about giving up his sleeping spot for the night. "Yeah, yeah. Just don't spread word of this around, okay? I've got a reputation to uphold, you know." King Dedede said. "Yes, sire." Capitan Waddle Doo replied with a chuckle.


	5. An Unexpected Encounter

The next morning, the little Waddle Dee awoke completely healed. It was almost as if the Fire Lion hadn't attacked him the day before. He decided to depart the castle, even though he secretly wanted to stay. So, he got up out of bed, and went to find the others so he could let them know he was leaving. He didn't have to search for very long though, since King Dedede, Captain Waddle Doo, and quite a few Waddle Dees and Waddle Doos were gathered in the throne room, talking about the little Dee. "I do hope he's feeling better today. Those were some serious injuries he suffered..." Captain Waddle Doo said worryingly. "Oh, he'll be fine! He had Maxim Tomato soup, after all." King Dedede replied. "Any moment now, he'll probably walk in here all healed up, and he'll tell us that he's feeling good enough to head home!" Just then, the little Waddle Dee came into the room, and all of the Waddle Dees and Waddle Doos relaxed, happy to see that the little one was all right. "What'd I tell ya?" The king said. "Glad to see you're feeling better now." Captain Waddle Doo smiled. "Yup! I feel MUCH better!" The little one said happily. "Then I suppose you'll be on your way?" Captain Waddle Doo asked. "Yup!" The little Dee replied. "Very well. Have a safe trip home." Captain Waddle Doo said as he waved to the little Waddle Dee. With that, the little one made his way out of the castle. "Bye, King! Bye Waddle Dees! And bye Waddle Doo sir! Thank you all for your hopsitality!" The little Dee called out on his way outside, mispronouncing the word 'hospitality' since he was still young. "He sure is nice." Captain Waddle Doo chuckled to himself.

Once the little Waddle Dee was outside, he decided to head for the butterfly fields again. However, he didn't get very far, since he bumped into some familiar faces. "Uh oh..." The little one said nervously. Fregula and his gang were back, and they were walking straight towards the little Dee. The child tried to run away before they noticed he was there, but it was too late. Fregula instantly noticed the little one, and grabbed him by the arm. "Well well well... What do we have here? It's that puny little runt from yesterday!" Fregula said. The little Dee shook nervously.

Just then, Frugula noticed his surroundings, and which direction the little Dee had come from. "Wait a minute... Oh ho ho! Wait a MINUTE! Were you at King Dedede's castle?" Fregula asked him, a smug look on his face. "Umm... Uhh-" The little one stammered. "I bet he WAS! And I bet he asked King Dedede for a job, and he said NO!" Fregula cackled, and Amelia and Fortissimo laughed along. "I thought we made it clear yesterday that you'll NEVER work for King Dedede because you're too puny! I guess the message didn't stick!" Fregula said. "Whaddya say we beat some sense into him, fellas?" He asked the other two Dees. "Yeah!" They agreed. And with that, they got out their weapons, Amelia a parasol, Fortissimo a spear, and Fregula his frying pan. And the three of them ganged up on the poor little Waddle Dee and attacked him. "No! Stop!" The poor frightened Waddle Dee pleaded. "Oh... We'll stop! When YOU stop being a puny, weak, pathetic loserface!" Fregula teased, and he and his gang laughed even harder than before. Once they were finished beating up the child, they left him, alone and even more injured than he was the day prior. He couldn't stand up, or even move his arms. "I could call Dedede for help..." He considered, but the harsh words those bullies had said to him stuck. "No... I can't... I... I don't want him to think that I'm a puny, weak, pathetic... LOSERFACE!!!" He said, and he began to cry.

Meanwhile, at the castle, King Dedede and Captain Waddle Doo were walking through the castle hallways, when Captain Waddle Doo looked outside and noticed that a harsh thunderstorm was brewing. "Looks like it's going to storm... Perhaps we should lockdown the castle in case of a flood..." Captain Waddle Doo said, then he looked over at King Dedede, who seemed to be thinking about something else entirely. "Your majesty? Are you even paying attention?" He asked. Obviously, he wasn't. King Dedede, being King Dedede, was only thinking about food. "Man... I'm STARVING! Captain Waddle Doo, tell the Waddle Dees to make me a five course meal!" King Dedede piped up. "Yes, your highness." Captain Waddle Doo replied with a salute. "But should we put the castle on lockdown first?" He asked. "Aw, that can wait! My stomach can't wait at all! Now go!" King Dedede demanded. "Very well." Captain Waddle Doo sighed, a bit annoyed that the king was putting his stomach over the safety of his subjects. Nonetheless, he headed off to the tell the Waddle Dees to make King Dedede some food. And King Dedede headed to the throne room and sat on his throne, waiting for his food to arrive. That's when he overheard the little Waddle Dee crying outside. "What IS that?" King Dedede inquired, not knowing where the sounds were coming from or what they were. "Waddle Dees, go see what that noise is for me!" He commanded his Waddle Dees... But obviously, none of them answered. "Oh... Right. They're all in the kitchen... Guess I'll go see what all that noise out there is myself..." King Dedede said with a sigh. Usually he was too lazy to check on suspicious noises on his own. But since he was the only one that wasn't busy preparing food in the kitchen, he had to make an exception.

So, he headed outside, and what he saw next shocked him. He recognized the little Waddle Dee instantly, and couldn't believe how badly hurt he was. "Hey! What're you doin' here still? And what happened to ya? Hello? Hello?" King Dedede said, anxiously trying to get an answer out of the little Dee. But the little one was crying so hard that he didn't even realise he had company. "Come on... Talk to me! I gotta know if there's some monster that I've gotta protect my castle from!" King Dedede exclaimed. Just then, it started to pour rain, and flashes of lighting shot across the sky. Not knowing what else to do, King Dedede, in an extreme act of kindness, scooped up the little Waddle Dee and ran back to the castle with him, protecting him from the thunderstorm. King Dedede wasn't sure why the little Waddle Dee was injured again, or how it had happened, but he hoped he could get an answer out of him once they got inside.


	6. Second Stay at the Castle

The little Waddle Dee was so upset that he didn't even realise that King Dedede had found him. That is, until he stopped crying, and realised he had been brought back into the castle, and was laying in King Dedede's bed, just like yesterday. Then he looked up to see King Dedede standing next to the bed. "King?" The Waddle Dee said with a sniffle. "You stay there. I'll be back in a minute." King Dedede said, and he headed towards the kitchen. "And then I wanna know why you're all beat up again!" He yelled back towards his room so the little Waddle Dee would hear him. When King Dedede got to the kitchen, his Waddle Dees immediately knew he was present. And they all stopped what they were doing and turned to face their king. "What is it sir?" The head chef asked, saluting to the king. "Change of plans, everyone! That undersized Waddle Dee is hurt again! Put my meal on hold and fix him some soup posthaste!" The Waddle Dees gasped. Did King Dedede really just say to prepare someone else's meal, before his?! It was so unlike him to say something like that! "Why you all lookin' at me like that?!" King Dedede asked. "That guy's really beat up bad! He needs his soup first! My crummy meal can wait!" "Y-Yes sir..." The Waddle Dees saluted, though they were still a bit shocked at the king's humility, especially over food. Captain Waddle Doo was also in the room, and he looked just as surprised as the Waddle Dees. Then King Dedede approached him. "Captain Waddle Doo, I've gotta stay here and make sure these Waddle Dees make a nice big batch of soup, and fast! You go check on our guest!" He commanded. "As you wish, your highness." Captain Waddle Doo replied with a nod. And he went into King Dedede's room to check on the injured Waddle Dee. "Good afternoon, sir. I hear you were injured again... Are you doing okay?" Captain Waddle Doo asked the little one.

"No..." The little Waddle Dee replied with a sniffle, wiping the last of his tears away. "Care to tell me what happened?" Captain Waddle Doo asked. "I can't." The little Dee replied. "I can't tell anyone! Besides, if I tell you, you might tell King Dedede!" "Why don't you want King Dedede to know?" Captain Waddle Doo inquired. "Because..." The Waddle Dee replied. "He might call me pathetic..." "He most certainly won't!" Captain Waddle Doo exclaimed. "But- B-But..." The little one stuttered. "Listen, while it's true that the King can be a little... Brash at times, he'd never call a Waddle Dee pathetic over something they couldn't control." Captain Waddle Doo told him. "Really?" The little Dee asked. "Really." Captain Waddle Doo replied. "So as long as you tell King Dedede the truth about what happened today, everything will be just fine." He reassured the Waddle Dee. Just then, they both heard footsteps approaching the bedroom. "Ah, that must be King Dedede on his way! Remember what I told you." Captain Waddle Doo said. "Right. I'll tell him the truth!" The little Dee replied. "Good." Captain Waddle Doo said with a smile. Just then, King Dedede came in with a bowl of Maxim Tomato soup for the little one that looked and smelled even better than the one he had the day before. "All right! Your soup is here, piping hot and fresh from the stove!" King Dedede said, handing the Waddle Dee his soup. "Normally I'm not the one who delivers food to guests, but I wanted to have a word with you. In private." He added, looking Captain Waddle Doo's way. "As you wish, your majesty. I'll leave you two to chat." Captain Waddle Doo saluted, and he left the room and closed the door behind him. And King Dedede pushed a chair that was in his room closer to the bed, and then he sat down in it.

"Now what happened to ya? Did a monster hurt ya? Did ya trip and fall? Did the Fire Lion think you were tryin' to hurt somebody again? What happened?" King Dedede asked. The little Waddle Dee took a deep breath, and prepared to tell the king exactly what had happened that day. "Well... It's kinda silly... But... I got hurt by some other Waddle Dees who live in the forest near the butterfly fields..." He started. "Waddle Dees?! Why on Planet Popstar would Waddle Dees wanna hurt their own kind?!" King Dedede asked confusedly. "It's because... They think that I'm too big of a puny, weak, pathetic, loserface to ever make my biggest dream come true!" The Dee replied, tears welling up in his eyes. "Pathetic? Aw, come on now! That ain't true! You're not pathetic at all!" King Dedede reassured the little one. "What's your biggest dream? Go on! Tell me!" The little Waddle Dee took another deep breath. Then, he told King Dedede his biggest dream; "Well... My biggest dream... Is to work for you." "Really now? YOU want to work for me?" King Dedede asked, a bit surprised. "Well then, I've got two words for you!" "'No way'?" The Waddle Dee asked. King Dedede smiled and shook his head no. "'You're hired'!" He corrected. "Really?" The little Waddle Dee asked, his eyes growing wide with excitement. "Really! I've been looking for some extra help around the castle, and if you're willing to provide it, then I've pretty much got no choice but to hire you!" The King replied with a smile. "Oh thank you SOOOOOO much!" The little Dee exclaimed, jumping up and down... Or trying to. He was so excited, that he sort of forgot how injured he still was. "Don't mention it!" King Dedede replied. "But... Save the excitement for later, you've gotta rest now!" The little Waddle Dee was so happy that King Dedede had given him a job, that he squealed in excitement. "By the way... I don't think I ever got your name! What is it?" King Dedede asked. "I... Don't have a name..." The little Dee replied sadly. "No name, huh? Well then, we'll just have to give ya one!" The King said understandingly. This wasn't an unfamiliar situation to him, since when Waddle Dees first arrived in Dream Land, none of them had names, so he had to name all of the ones that worked for him. King Dedede took a good look at the little one. Then he thought of a good name. "You're smaller than average. We'll call you Half-Pint!" He said.

Half-Pint giggled in delight. Not only was his wildest dream coming true, but now he had a name! It was all too good to be true! King Dedede smiled. "You get some rest now. If you're up to it, your first day on the job'll be tommorow!" He said, and he left the room so Half-Pint could finish his soup and rest. Half-Pint gulped down his soup, and then he tried to get some sleep. But he was too excited, and thoughts filled his head about the days to come. "I can't believe I'm gonna be working for King Dedede! It's a dream come true!" Half-Pint thought to himself.

(Author's note: In my headcanon, Bandana Waddle Dee was known as "Half-Pint" before receiving his bandana. He'll go by that name for a couple of chapters. :3)


End file.
